1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to bed ventilators, specifically to bed ventilators that move fresh air under bedding covers along the bodies of persons resting therein.
2. Prior Art
Stagnant air trapped about sleepers' resting bodies inhibits restful slumber. This stagnant air is shared between bedmates, raising the temperature under the bed covers, and trapping foot, underarm, flatus, or other bodily odors. Any attempt to freshen the entrapped air by raising and lowering the bed covers in a bellows flapping fashion causes the stagnant air to circulate from the tucked foot end and out through the untucked head end. While such air refreshing may temporarily modify the undercover air temperature, any malodorous air exits past the sleeper's face and nose. This situation is especially disruptive to restful sleep when one bedmate is stricken with flatulence that is only able to exit about the bed occupants' faces and noses. The mere act of a sleeper changing position or rolling over beneath bed covers may produce a sufficient bedcovers bellows effect to give the resting persons a faceful of malodorous flatus.
Prior attempts to address the bed ventilation problem can be broadly grouped into four categories: a tent system, a specialized mattress system, a forced air system, or a specialized bed sheet covers system. Each of these systems inadequately addresses the twin temperature and malodorous air problems. The tent system as typified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,695,413 to Maat requires a frame infrastructure, and a powerful pump to force air through a HEPA filter. A high volume pump is required to change over the tented air volume in the case of Kotliar in U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,850. The Maat tent recirculates malodorous air and flatus about the occupant in an undesirable manner. The Kotliar tent forces the malodorous air and flatus past the face and nose of the sleeper in a most offensive flow pattern.
The specialized mattress system as represented by U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,718 to Schmid and U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,576 to Lin require extensive specialized support construction. A powerful high volume fan percolates air through the mattress interior and out through the top cover. An impermeable, nonporous sidewall foundation contains air pressure; multiple apertures percolate the forced air out the mattress top cover. This non-breathable mattress material exacerbates sleeper discomfort by amplifying perspiration from bodily contact with the mattress surface between air apertures. Special bedding with elasticized straps along the periphery is also required to maintain taut contact with the mattress top as needed to effect airflow. Even with the special sheets, bedding, and cover materials, all malodorous air and flatus are undesirably circulated past the face and nose of the sleeper because the only opening for system exhaust is about the head and shoulders of a covered body in bed.
The forced air system as characterized by U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,120 to Yonkers, Jr. requires a wide fan and conduit configuration that produces an aesthetically displeasing appearance when attached to a bed. It also necessitates the top bed sheet to be left untucked for air inlet, increasing the likelihood of airflow disruption when the loose bedding blocks the inlet. Forced air devices may also place electrical wires proximate to a bed occupant, increasing the risk of electrical fire or possible electrocution. Many forced air systems operate continuously during the sleep cycle creating disruptful noise and consuming excessive amounts of electrical energy. Prior art forced air systems push air from beneath the bed covers that escapes at the untucked head of the bed. This airflow from toe to head is the reverse of the natural hair growth direction and is less pleasing than the natural head to toe flow. The design of U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,575 to Rodney et al relies upon residual thermal effect to reduce energy consumption by requiring direct bodily contact with the device in bed. Such foreign object contact in bed generally causes discomfort and disrupts restful sleep. The forced air systems do nothing to alleviate malodorous air and flatus. Depending upon the configuration, they may actually exacerbate the problem by forcing noxious odors past the face and nose of the tucked in sleeper. That is, forced air ultimately channels along the sleeper's body to exist from under the bed covers at the sleeper's shoulders and head.
The specialized ventilated covers typified by U.S. Pat. No. 7,107,638 to Wilson and U.S. Pat. No. 6,934,985 to Sanders require vent cutouts in the bed covers themselves to allow increased airflow during slumber. Such cutouts in covers can only be had by purchase of specialized bedding or by mutilation of otherwise functional bedding materials. There is no certainty that the special vent cutouts will be placed over body parts that most need thermal relief, nor can it be certain that full flatus or other bodily odor will exit from under the covers and away from a sleeper's face. Undesirable odors may still pass the face and nose of sleepers from under the ventilated covers. Even if released via intended cutouts, the malodorous air will hang about the bed area to the dismay of those trying to sleep.
What is needed is a bed ventilation system that removes air from under the bed covers by drawing air from head to toe along a body at rest. Instead of the positive air pressure systems prevalent in the prior art, the air motive force should employ negative air pressure. The air motive force should be located away from the sleeper's head and preferably under the bed to help muffle operational noise. The bed covers themselves form air travel conduits with the sleeper's bodily contours forming the flow channel infrastructure. The ideal bed ventilation system avoids inadvertent bodily contact by a sleeper in bed with ventilation system components. This assures maximum relief from all air moved as well as minimizing the volume of air needing to be moved in order to effect sleeper relief.
The ideal bed ventilation system should integrate with standard mattress and bedding materials to minimize the investment needed on the part of the consumer. This improved bed ventilation system optionally can detect the presence of flatus and activate automatically as necessary to discreetly remove malodorous content. Optionally the system can employ a remote control accessible on a nightstand to provide thermal or odor relief as desired. For shared bed arrangements the partners should be able to control air flow on their respective side of the bed to minimize disturbance to the other partner. The ideal bed ventilation system should also filter malodorous content from evacuated air before release into the sleeping chamber. By sensing undercover temperature the bed ventilation system automatically operates to provide cooling airflow when temperatures exceed a set point determined by the individual sleepers. A novel bed sheet tensioning mechanism ensures no blockage of an air extraction device while simultaneously enhancing sleeper comfort by removing uncomfortable wrinkles from the bed covering.